The present invention relates to awnings for travel trailers and/or mobile homes, which awnings may be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,324,869. In that type of awning assembly, a flexible awning cover is wound on a roller which is rotatable on a shaft, the free end of the awning cover being fixed to the trailer. The roller is carried by pivoting arms which swing toward and away from the mobile home to move the awning between furled and unfurled conditions.
The present invention relates in particular to means for inhibiting rotation of the roller when the awning is in either its furled or unfurled condition. The invention is an improvement of the mechanism disclosed in my copending U.S. application Ser. No. 460,178, filed Jan. 24, 1983, and entitled "Awning Assembly". That application discloses an arrangement wherein the roller is provided with an end plate rotatable therewith, there also being provided a cap affixed to the roller shaft. A stud is threadedly engaged with the cap and can be screwed into engagement with detents and recesses on the end plate to lock the roller against rotation. This is a cumbersome arrangement, since it necessitates extensive manual rotation of the threaded stud to perform the locking and unlocking operations. The inconvenience of this arrangement is aggravated by the fact that the roller and its associated cap are typically located at a considerable elevation above the ground and are, therefore, not easily accessible.